Transsexual artist Titica takes Angola by storm

By Louise Redvers

She is bold, she is bright, she is beautiful and she is taking Angola by storm. Not bad for a transsexual in a Catholic African country where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by hard labour.

Born in Luanda as Teca Miguel Garcia, singer and dancer Titica adopted her female persona four years ago following a breast enhancement operation in Brazil.

Now, at 25, Titica is the new face of Angola’s unique urban rap-techno fusion music style known as “kuduro”.

By day her songs boom from minibus taxis, by night they fill Luanda’s dance floors and at the weekends she has become the essential soundtrack for children’s parties.

Named best kuduro artist of 2011, she is a regular on television and radio, and has even performed at the annual Divas concert, attended by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, where she herself was named a diva.

With a training in ballet, she first got involved in kuduro as a backing dancer, supporting popular acts such as Noite e Dia, Propria Lixa and Puto Portugues.

Last October she released her first song, Chao, which to date is one of the most-played kuduro tracks in Angola and its diaspora.

This month Titica will embark on her first international tour with dates so far fixed for Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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